My friend is transgender, should they change their legal name before applying for disability?

Hello!

I’m making this post on behalf of my best friend who doesn’t have a reddit account and would like advice.

After much waiting, they finally got a doctor willing to corroborate that they are indeed disabled. This is great news, as they applied for disability previously but were unable to secure it.

The dilemma is this: They are wanting to apply for disability as soon as possible, but are unsure of how difficult it would be to resolve any future problems if they decided to legally change their name later down the line. The name they go by in public is not their desired name, and since they live with their parents, they are hesitant to change their name first.

They are not 100% opposed to getting their name changed first, but does anyone have input on what is best to do first in this situation?

Thank you!